The iPhone was a little less exciting when Apple revealed that web apps were the only way developers could write applications for the iPhone. While committed folks eventually opened the phone up for third-party applications, some interesting stuff was happening on the web application front. It's called iUI.

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I was reading Rob Cherny's article Accessible Ajax, A Basic Hijax Example and started thinking a little more about accessibility. Cherney claims that this hijax method, using unobtrusive JavaScript to make a form submit with Ajax instead of traditional POSTing when Ajax is available, is more accessible. While I think it is more accessible than only using Ajax, it is only more accessible for generic alternative browsers; it isn't any more accessible for disabled people.

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I admit it. I like Ajax. Sure it's a dumb buzzword. But, as you'll recall, in How To Make an Ajax Chat Room, I said something like, It just turns out XML is slightly more usable for complex stuff and that synchronous requests defeat the point. Though Ajat have many uses. The point I was trying to make is that sometimes sending text back instead of XML is nice. For example, I can send back a 1 if the action was successful. But sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes, text and XML are both the wrong tools for the job. That's where JSON comes in.

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I've been helping this guy from India with an Ajax / XML chat app. I wrote one ages ago, but I think it broke. So, since I'm already giving a how-to, I might as well write it down.

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There is nothing like starting my day by looking over my shoulder to see a green Jeep (1990-1996), tires squealing, sliding towards me. My natural reflexes propelled my body quickly to the other corner despite my brain knowing that the Jeep would come to a stop well before it collided with me. The guy in the Jeep wasn't so sure. I just kept walking. It wasn't the first time I'd almost gotten hit, and it wasn't the closest. It was the loudest. I looked back after I had walked twenty or thirty feet and couldn't tell if the guy in the Jeep was pissed or shaken. He was still sitting there. That means something.

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Recently I had the challenge of writing a file browser for our content server at work. The gist was that we'd store our content includes, image, javascript, and css files on a different server than our live HTML. Without getting into the guts of the system, a template would be created and the guts (images, JS, CSS, content, and form) would be stuck into the template when it was written to the live server. I won't debate the practicality at this point, as it has it's merits and defects. The point is we have a content server.

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I thought about going out this weekend. Then I didn't. Maybe not the most fun move on Halloween, but whatever.

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I love L.A. because the speed limit is actually governed by the flow of traffic. The speed limit is as-fast-as-traffic-will-let-you-go-without-scaring-yourself. Sometimes that is 110 MPH. Sometimes it's 5 MPH. It's not like in Alabama where they say go with the flow of traffic but will pull you over for going above the speed limit. That is one reason why I love L.A.

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